If more than one person knows, it’s not a secret.
Lee Hyun-woo thought that he couldn’t keep hiding the fact that he was Nostradamus forever.
However, rather than revealing it all at once, he thought it might be better to tell one person at a time and let it spread quietly. Then, when the time comes, it would be okay to reveal that Nostradamus was Lee Hyun-woo’s ‘alternate persona.’
Of course, this was just his current thought.
As always, having a flexible mindset prevents making rigid decisions.
It’s the same now.
First, he decided to lower Woo Sang-won’s worries and let him understand Nostradamus’ messages while managing.
“N…Nostradamus is you, CEO?”
The expression was more surprised than expected.
“Was it that unexpected?”
“Yes…”
Woo Sang-won replied with a groaning sound, took a deep breath, and continued speaking.
“Practically, Nostradamus is the number one star of our blog, isn’t he?”
“Is that so?”
“Since you are the CEO, you might not know well. But internally, there has been a lot of speculation about Nostradamus’ identity. Some thought he was a diplomat, a retired economic official, or a high-ranking economic journalist.”
“I’m honored to receive such a high evaluation.”
“It’s true. Especially, Team Leader Shin Dong-woon has recently become the most enthusiastic fan. He said he’s never seen an economic intellectual with such a macro perspective, even when he was on Wall Street.”
“I see.”
Lee Hyun-woo thought, smiling awkwardly.
A macro perspective comes from living life twice.
“Anyway, for now, I plan to let only Director Woo and Director Lee know.”
“Oh, okay…”
“Of course, it’s not like I’m committing a crime, but it’s fun to write something while hiding behind a veil. How should I put it? It’s like wearing a mask and expanding my range of activities?”
This was also true.
The name Lee Hyun-woo was starting to carry weight.
If it were a small company, it might be different, but now that he is the head of a mid-sized company like Jungle, he had to be careful with his words and actions.
Standing out too much would increase enemies and could invite attacks.
This can lead to distortion and exaggeration.
Naturally, this could also harm Jungle.
Even if that wasn’t the case, acting as Nostradamus and writing something gave Lee Hyun-woo considerable pleasure.
‘Is this the power of anonymity?’
On the downside, it was like understanding why an ordinary person would write cruel comments.
Of course, Lee Hyun-woo had no intention of going in that direction, but he wanted to deliver some serious criticism to South Korea through Nostradamus.
To put it simply, Lee Hyun-woo played the role of the good cop, while his alternate persona Nostradamus played the role of the bad cop.
“I understand. Well, Nostradamus isn’t doing anything illegal… Oh? But you said you were going to publish an article, right? Does that mean Sejong Ilbo knows too?”
“Only one person knows. Jang Jae-won, the head of Digital Sejong. He promised to keep it a secret, so I have to trust him.”
“Oh… okay…”
“Honestly, I don’t know how long I can maintain this. When the time comes, it will be revealed that Lee Hyun-woo is Nostradamus, and I won’t be able to write as freely as I do now.”
“Then you must hope the secret is kept for a long time.”
“Of course.”
While conversing, he subtly tried to set a time for revelation.
‘If possible, I’d like people to find out after I retire.’
By then, the heavy burden of being the head of Jungle would no longer be on his shoulders, and he could write more freely.
Meanwhile, Jang Jae-won, who received Lee Hyun-woo’s article, started to read it again with an intrigued look.
『Now is the Time to Prepare for Exchange Rate Increases
Recently, I read an article in Sejong Ilbo about Thailand’s expansion using other people’s money. I had a lot of thoughts after reading it. It’s an undeniable fact.
We need to carefully examine the identity of ‘other people’s money.’ It’s foreign capital. More precisely, it’s money with the intention of making large profits in a short time. This is known as ‘hot money,’ and in terms of investment classification, it’s closer to speculation.
The problem is that banks lent this money to companies for the long term.
So, we need to consider what would happen if hot money tries to withdraw quickly. Then banks would be in trouble. Usually, banks hold less than 10% of their deposits, so if the amount they need to repay exceeds this, it’s not hard to imagine what would happen.
Thailand is now facing the future that our country will soon encounter. I predict there will soon be an announcement about abandoning the fixed exchange rate system …(truncated)…』
As expected, it had a raw feel because he wasn’t a professional columnist.
But has his writing improved in the meantime?
Unlike what he wrote on the blog, it felt quite organized.
So he decided.
‘Let’s publish it without edits.’
Jang Jae-won knew that there were quite a few followers of Nostradamus.
At least, he could confirm this from the comments on Jungle.
Once an article is posted, hundreds of comments would appear within days.
Even now, comments were being posted, and he was monitoring them from time to time.
But.
“Huh?”
A question mark appeared from his mouth.
The Jungle blog service had changed.
A new notice at the top caught his eye,
【Nostradamus currently has 78,987 followers.】
Now, it seemed he could know how many people followed Nostradamus.
After a while, Jang Jae-won also clicked the blue box below that said 【Would you like to follow?】
And the number increased again.
【Nostradamus currently has 78,990 followers.】
Even if only 10% of them read Nostradamus’ articles, it wouldn’t be a loss.
‘I should think about a year from now.’
If the followers multiplied ten or twenty times, there would be more readers of the articles.
Jang Jae-won, who majored in economics, knew that marketing is highly effective where people gather.
‘In a few years, the decision to bring Nostradamus as a columnist will be a masterstroke.’
With this thought, Jang Jae-won called his subordinate.
“I will publish Nostradamus’ article by the end of today.”
The advantage of the online edition is that articles and editorials can be published at any time.
Since the format was not yet established, it was something he could do.
Soon, Nostradamus’ article was posted.
It might be different elsewhere, but in Jungle, the attention given to the number one blog star was no joke.
Among them, Shin Dong-woon was an avid follower and frequently visited Digital Sejong.
When it finally came out, he started reading the article with sparkling eyes.
‘Wow, it’s a different taste than reading the blog.’
It felt like making a prophecy through an authoritative institution.
Then a miraculous thing happened.
As soon as he finished reading the blog,
- You have mail.
An email arrived from his friend.
This friend was a fund manager on Wall Street, responsible for investments in Asia.
Coincidentally, he had spoken with him while he was on a business trip in Thailand.
In the email that started with ‘Dear Dong,’ there was a sentence that made his eyes widen.
- Just now, the Thai financial authorities declared the abandonment of the fixed exchange rate system. We are planning to liquidate our positions after monitoring the situation.
He immediately got up from his seat.
Then he went to find COO Woo Sang-won.
“Excuse me, I have something to tell you…”
“Why do you look so urgent?”
“I just received an email from my friend. He’s a fund manager on Wall Street and is currently on a business trip in Thailand. He said the fixed exchange rate system was abandoned just now.”
“Really?”
Since becoming the COO, Woo Sang-won had been studying economics a lot.
The Chief Operating Officer needs to be proficient not only in development but in all fields within the company.
Finance is no exception, and having Shin Dong-woon, who had Wall Street experience, was a big help.
“Abandoning the fixed exchange rate system will cause a temporary rise in the value of the baht. But that’s actually a signal. Just before the dollar pulls out.”
“Oh… I think I read that on the blog.”
“Yes, Nostradamus mentioned it on the blog and briefly in today’s article. He also said that Thailand’s financial instability would lead to corporate bankruptcies and economic collapse. Then the rise of the dollar, as the key currency, is certain.”
Shin Dong-woon often cited Nostradamus.
Not only because Nostradamus had a high success rate in predicting economic situations but also because it helped Woo Sang-won understand better.
As expected, Woo Sang-won nodded and asked,
“Then we should stock up on dollars too.”
“Of course. Honestly, the Korean won is valued too highly in reality. An appropriate increase is good for export companies. Though a rapid rise is problematic, it is bound to go up gradually.”
“I understand. I’ll report to the CEO, so please prepare a proposal to secure the company’s reserve funds in dollars.”
“Yes, I’ll get right on it.”
Shin Dong-woon checked the time as he replied.
3 PM.
‘I need to hurry. If I don’t finish by quitting time, I’ll have to exercise.’
Due to the CEO’s policy that required working out in the training room if working overtime, Shin Dong-woon hastily prepared the proposal.
However, Lee Hyun-woo received it the next day.
This meant Shin Dong-woon didn’t finish by quitting time and had to exercise before completing the proposal.
The next day.
“Is it time to buy dollars with the money excluding available funds?”
Lee Hyun-woo asked Woo Sang-won a question while reviewing Shin Dong-woon’s proposal.
“If you look there, it says that due to Thailand’s announcement of abandoning the fixed exchange rate system, problems will arise soon. The international economy is now interconnected, so a crisis in one country can trigger a crisis in another. If there is an issue with foreign exchange management in Thailand, our country could be affected as well…”
Lee Hyun-woo’s question was to gauge how well Woo Sang-won understood finance.
Of course, he was satisfied.
Eventually.
“Moreover, you predicted the rise of the dollar and said that the dollar is the key. If we keep the company’s reserve funds in won, which might devalue, it wouldn’t align with your predictions…”
Carefully, Woo Sang-won requested Lee Hyun-woo, or Nostradamus, to be consistent in words and actions, making it hard for him not to nod.
“Yes, I understand. Please convert the company’s reserve funds to dollars, excluding the available funds.”
As soon as Lee Hyun-woo finished speaking, Woo Sang-won rushed out.
Thinking.
There was no need to report every detail now,
‘The second-quarter settlements from Japan and the U.S. will be coming in soon.’
He decided to receive all of it in dollars.
